ILERA Apothecary is an award-winning skincare brand rooted in science, intention, and the healing power of plants.
Founded by chemist and environmental health scientist Chinonye Akunne, the company blends clean beauty principles with cultural heritage to create vegan, cruelty-free, and sustainable body care products. With products available in 30+ retail locations nationwide and a loyal customer base, ILERA sought to expand its reach and elevate its digital presence.
CHALLENGE
ILERA Apothecary had built a loyal following through word of mouth and in-person events but faced a new challenge: how to grow brand awareness and attract new audiences in a saturated online skincare market. With wholesale buyers originally coming to them organically,
the brand wanted to take more control of its digital footprint and campaigns. However, they needed a clear understanding of which marketing tools, tactics, and platforms would work best without sounding spammy or diluting their values.
SOLUTION
Blended Collective provided strategic marketing support through a series of consulting and working sessions focused on refining ILERA’s digital roadmap. Together, we worked on strengthening brand visibility, optimizing digital tools, and building internal confidence across the team.
Our key contributions included:
- SEO Strategy: Introduced tools to evaluate keyword and backlink gaps in comparison to competitors, helping ILERA increase visibility through organic search.
- Email Campaign Optimization: Provided guidance on A/B testing frameworks and suggested industry benchmarks for open rates and click-through rates to measure success.
- Social Media Analysis and Strategy: Created a process for ILERA to track and analyze social performance through a 30–90-day content log, laying the groundwork for future strategy based on real-time engagement data.
- Content Repurposing + Platform Alignment: Recommended cross-promoting and repackaging content across platforms to maximize reach with minimal effort.
- Holiday + Anniversary Campaigns: Supported email and social strategy for ILERA’s anniversary and holiday product releases, including discounts, landing page optimization, and community engagement.
“My team and I worked with Lydia to align our social media and email marketing efforts. Through her guidance, we developed a cohesive brand voice and campaign timeline that allowed us to engage our audience more effectively across platforms, offering aspirational content on Instagram and educational touchpoints through Klaviyo. This cross-channel consistency helped us strengthen brand awareness and deepen customer connection.”
Chinonye Akunne, Co-Founder and CEO, ILERA Apothecary
RESULTS
With these foundational strategies in place, ILERA Apothecary sharpened its internal marketing systems and became better equipped to launch targeted campaigns, track performance, and align brand values with measurable tactics.
In 2025, ILERA Apothecary celebrated a major retail milestone: the brand launched in Detroit Metro Airport’s McNamara Terminal at the A21 Motown Greatest Hits gift shop. Less than a month after hitting the shelves, inventory had to be replenished due to high demand, demonstrating the power of strong brand storytelling, increased awareness, and smart visibility at scale.
